Once ranchos in California numbered in the hundreds, and they covered millions of acres of Golden State. They ran from San Diego to Sacramento and from the Pacific coast inland. The ranchos were important economic units that operated for only a few years, more than a hundred years ago. California once supported great herds of half-wild Mexican cattle. Few ranchos still exist today, however there still is evidence of their boundaries which can still be found in many legal land descriptions.

Rancho Timeline

1784 1st provisional land grant presented to Juan Jose Dominguez for years of dedicated service to Spain